Some of Britain’s top cultural institutions have been accused of ‘discriminating’ against private school students with higher prices and exclusion from some events.
Organisations such as Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Space Academy were discovered to have charged higher fees to independent schools than to state schools for trips and workshops.
Private school pupils were also excluded from educational presentations at the Bank of England, it was revealed.
The world-famous Globe theatre in London charges £12 per student for state school pupils but charges £14 for ‘other’ schools. The charge would likely be paid by schools and not pupils or their parents.
Similarly, the National Space Academy charges £850 for a ‘masterclass’ but just £650 to state schools and charities.
The academy, which is funded by the UK Space Agency, helps teach children about science through the context of space exploration.
The Royal Shakespeare Company was last year accused of ‘feeding into a national class war’ by charging private school students more than state schoolchildren for theatre visits.
Groups of state schoolchildren watching performances by the globally famous company were charged £10 a head, while their private school counterparts were charged a staggering £16.50.
The world-famous Globe theatre in London charges £12 per student for state school pupils but charges £14 for ‘other’ schools
The National Space Academy in Leicester charges £850 for a ‘masterclass’ but just £650 to state schools and charities
Tony Perry, the chairman of the parent-led campaign group Education Not Taxation, told The Telegraph: ‘We are disappointed to learn that organisations such as the National Space Academy are discriminating against, or outright excluding, children simply because they attend independent schools.
‘This two-tier approach does nothing to reduce inequality and fails to recognise the complex reality of families and education. It can penalise children from lower-income families who attend independent schools on bursaries, while allowing children from wealthier families in state schools to participate.’
Private school students who visited the Bank of England’s museum were excluded from presentations and ‘interactive storytelling sessions’ on money, gold and how the central bank work.
The Bank told the Telegraph that this was because private school students ‘already see’ an interest in economics in comparison to state school students and that it had a limited budget.
The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration charges state schools £400 per day for classes while independent schools are charged £575.
Richard Jones, head of Dorset’s Bryanston School, which is famous for performing arts, said last year on The Royal Shakespeare Company: ‘The theatres’ premium for independent school children isn’t inclusion, it’s discrimination.
Private school pupils were also excluded from educational presentations at the Bank of England
‘The arts are meant to unite audiences, not divide children through where they go to school.’
The National Space Academy said that the discounts were given to state schools because of ‘stipulations provided by our grant funders’.
The Globe, the Bank of England, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration and the National Space Academy were contacted for comment.
